National

The 'Modi-fied' Face Of Varanasi

𒁃Varanasi’s twice-elected Member of Parliament (MP), Narendra Modi, has begun to sculpt the eternal city in his own image. His passion project—a wide, swanky corridor around the Kashi Vishwanath temple—has brought increased footfalls to the town. The roads running to the fabled ghats have also undergone a makeover. Just like the ghats themselves, such as Assi. The city’s newest ghat, literally called NaMo, doubles up as a glitzy promenade and a ‘theme park’, where splash pool, inflatable castles, trampolines, and toy rides make Hinduism cool. The new developments, though, also prod us to consider their cost. Many houses and temples were destroyed to accommodate the corridor. The city’s Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, too, has begun to change. Earlier this year, the district court allowed daily aartis in the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque. The Varanasi Nagar Nigam’s new proposals include banning the meat shops within the two-kilometre radius of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and widening the roads in a Muslim-dominated locality, Daalmandi, so that Hindu pilgrims can have easy access to the corridor. As the city gears up to vote in less than two weeks, on June 1, its fate—and narratives of development—await a new chapter.